Let-off and take-up mechanism for looms



(No Model.)

0. B. RUMSEY. LET-OFF AND TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS,

No. 532,341. Patented Jan. 8, 1895 m: mamas Pzrzs 00.,Puofo-LrmoQwAwmmoN, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. RUMSEY, OF HOMER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW JERSEY WIRECLOTH COMPANY, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

LET-OFF AND TAKE- UP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 532,341, dated January8, 1895. Application filed February 2, 1894. Serial 120.49%,907- (Nomodel.)

To (ZZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that LOHAnLEs B. RUMSEY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at H0- mer, county of Cortland,and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Let-Off and Take-Up Mechanism for Looms, fully described andrepresented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the same. 7 V

Thls invention is of general application in various classes of looms,but is more especially designed for looms for weaving wire fabrics.

The object of the invention is to provide a let-01f and take-upmechanism which shall be more efiiicient than those heretofore in use,and especially to provide a simple, durable and efficient mechanism forcontrolling the movement of the take-up roll by the fabric so as to keepthe latter and the warp wires under proper tension, during the action ofthe loom, and at the same time permit the letoff and take-up rolls to bestopped or the fabric reversed, when desired.

For a full understanding of the invention a detailed description. of aconstruction embodying the invention in the preferred form as applied toa loom of common construction .will now be given in connection with theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and thefeatures forming the invention then pointed out in the claims.

In thedrawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of such portion of a loomas is necessary to illustrate the invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection on the line 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail central section ofthe clutch showing the parts in the normal position while the fabric isbeing wound on the cloth roll. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing theparts'in the position they occupy when the let-off and take-up rolls areboth reversed.

Referring to saiddrawings, A is the loom frame; B, the let-off or warproll; 0, the takeup or cloth roll, and D the lay, all these parts beingof any common or suitable construction. .The warp roll B carries a gear1O,'or

preferably two gears, one at each end, which mesh with pinions 11 on ashaft 12 mounted in the frame, this shaft carrying a larger gear 13which engages a worm 14 carried by a horizontal shaft E extendinglongitudinally of the loom, and driven from a horizontal cross shaft Fthrough beveled gears 15, 16, the shaft F being driven from the maindriving shaft G by a sprocket chain 17 and sprocket wheels 18, 19. Anyother suitable means may be substituted for this sprocket chainconstruct-ion, butthis is preferable as affording a convenient means foradjusting the speed of the shaft E and let-off and takeup rolls by usingsprocket wheels of different relative sizes.

For the purpose of throwing the shaft E out of gear when the let-0E andtake-up rolls are to be stopped or reversed, any suitable means maybeused. As shown, the beveledgear 15 a is carried by a sleeve splined onthe shaft F a circumferential groove in the sleeve being engaged by onearm of a bell crank lever 20 and and chain 25. It will be understood,however, that any other suitable means may be used for this purpose.

Referring now to the mechanism by which the speed of the Wind-up roll C.is controlled in accordance with my invention, and which may be appliedto looms of widely different construction from that shown and abovedeconnected to the shaft E by sprockets 23, 24

scribed, the shaft E is in line with a shaft E,

respectively, the shafts E, E, and having their movement limited bystops 1, 2 on said shafts. The shaft E may be connected to the take-uproll G in any suitable manner, being shown as driving it through gear 26on the roll engaging a worm 27 on the shaft E.

For the purpose of shifting the clutch b, b so as to clutch or unclutchshafts E, E and thus control the take-up roll 0 by the fabric, thefollowing. construction is used: In place of the usual stationary breastbeam, a movable breast beam is used, this breast beam preferablyconsisting, as shown, of a roll H and being mounted in. a vertical frameI pivoted at the top of the frame A, and extending downward nearly tothe base of the loom frame so as to form a lever with the short armcarrying the breast roll and the long arm extending downward, the framebeing spring pressed against the tension of the fabric so as to form atension frame by which the slack is taken up and the fabric held underproper tension,

this spring pressure being secured in the construction shown by springrods 28 connecting the lower end of the frame I to the loom, the springpressure preferably being made adjustable so that the tension upon theroll may be varied as desired. As shown, the ends of the spring rods 28are passed through brackets 29 011 the frame, and adjustment secured bythumb nuts 30 screwed on the'ends of the rods against the bracketsf Thetension frame I at one side of the loom is connected by a rod 31 to theshifter 32, the shifter being pivoted to the base frame of the loom, andthe rod 31 being preferably connected thereto, as shown, by passing therod through the shifter with springs 3, 4 on opposite sides of theshifter pressing against the latter, and collars 5 on the rod, a springpressure of the rod 31 upon the shifter in both directions being thussecured. The shifter 32,

has forks c, c at its upper end which engage respectively the clutchmembers I), b on opposite sides of the clutch, the distance betweenthese forks being somewhat greater than the thickness of the clutch soas to provide for the lost motion desired, and this distance ispreferably made adjustable. As shown, one of the forks, as c, carries asliding piece 6 adjustably held to the fork by a bolt 7 sliding in aslot in the fork and carried by the sliding piece.

The operation of the construction will be understood from a briefdescription.

When the fabric is taken up too rapidly by the take-up roll 0, thebreast roll H is drawn to the left in Fig. l by the tension upon thefabric, and the tension frame I thus rocked so as to carry its long endto the right against the tension of spring rods 28, thus drawing on therod 31 and moving the shifter 32 to the right from the position shown inFigs. 1 and 3. This carries the fork c away from clutch member I), so asto release the pressure upon the clutch and, as this pressure isreleased,

the clutch members slip upon each other when the tension of the fabricexceeds the friction between'their surfaces, and the shaft E and roll 0rotate more slowly or stop. If the fabric be slackened by the stoppingof the takeup roll, or by its rotating too slowly, the

breast roll H is moved to the right in the drawings by the tension ofthe spring rods 28, thus taking up the slack and preserving the propertension upon the fabric and warp, and the lower end of the tension frameI with the rod 31 and shifter 32 are thus carried to the left. Thisforces the fork 0 against the clutch member I) again, and theclutchmembers are thus pressed together again against the stop 1, as shown inFig. 3. Thus the swinging of the tension frame I controls the taking upof the fabricand preserves the required tension thereon.

When it is desired to reverse the fabric for any purpose, the slide rod21 is pushed in from the front of the machine so as to shift the gear 15out of engagement with the gear 16, thus releasing the'shaft E. Then, byactuating the handle a, the shaft 22 will be rotated, and this movementtransmitted to the shaft E through the sprocket chain 25. As the let offroll B isthus rotated to take up the warp, the tension upon the breastroll I-I draws this roll to the left in Fig. 1 and moves the lower endof the tension frame I to the right against the tension of spring rods28, and thus moves the connecting rod 31 and shifter 32 in a directionto force fork 0 against the clutch member I) and the latter toward theclutch member 19, and this movement is continued until the member I) isbrought against the stop 2, and the two members pressed together, asshown in Fig. 1, when the friction between the two members will besufficient to drive the shaft E and thus reverse the wind-up roll 0 tounwind the fabric. This operation will continue during the unwinding ofthe fabric, or in case the fabric is not taken up by the let-off roll Bas rapidly as it is let off by the roll 0, the clutch members 'b, b willbe unclutched by the roll II moving to the right and the take up roll 0thus retarded or stopped to be started again when the slack is taken up.It will be found in practice that by this control of the fabric upon theclutch, the slip of the clutch members upon each other will be such asto compensate for slight differences of tension, so that the movement ofthe roll H during the normal operation of the loom is very slight, andthis roll practically stationary, except that as the size of the wind-uproll increases,

the breast roll H will be moved farther indesired, and this pressure isreadily adjustable. The connection of the tension frame to the shifter,also, is a spring connection, thus avoiding the danger of breakageincident to and positive connections thereto, and that the clutchconstruction maybe used with other means for controlling it by thefabric.

The clutch shown and described and the means for controlling the same bythe tension of the web may be applied also to machines of otherconstruction than that shown, and this clutch in combination with atension frame and connections for controlling the clutchby the tensionon a web of any kind, forms in itself a part of the invention, and isthus claimed. It will be understood, also, that changes may be made inthe form and arrangement of the devices shown as embodying my inventionwithout departing from the latter, and that I am not to be limited toany specific construction of these devices.

What is claimed is- 1. In a loom, the combination with a positivelydriven let off roll, of a take up roll, a shaft driving said take uproll, a shaft for driving said first mentioned shaft, a friction clutchconnecting said shafts, a vertical tension frame over which the fabricpasses to the take up roll, and connections, between said frame andclutch for controlling the movement of the take up roll, substantiallyas described.

2. In a loom, the combination with a positively driven let off roll, ofa take up roll, a shaft driving said take up roll, a shaft driving saidfirst mentioned shaft, a friction clutch connecting said shafts, atension frame, and connections between said frame and clutch forcontrolling the movement of the take up roll, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a loom, the combination with a let-off roll, of a take-up roll,ashaft driving said take-up roll, a shaft driving said first mentionedshaft, a friction clutch connecting said shafts consisting of membershaving alimi ted movement longitudinally of the shafts, a tension frame,and connections between the frame and clutch engaging the clutch onopposite sides and havinglost motion for moving the clutch members inopposite directions on said shafts,-substantially as described.

4. In a loom, the combination with a let-off.

roll, of a take-up roll, a shaft driving said take-up roll, a shaftdriving said first mentioned shaft, a friction clutch connecting saidshafts consisting of members having a limited movement longitudinally ofthe shafts, a tension frame, a shifter engaging the clutch members onopposite sides of the clutch and providing for lost motion between theshifter and clutch on its movement in opposite directions, andconnections between said shifter and frame forv moving the shifter inopposite directions, substantially as described.

5. In a loom, the combination with a let ofi roll, of a take-up roll, ashaft driving said take-up roll, a shaft driving said first mentiqnedshaft, a friction clutch connecting said shafts consisting of membershaving a limited movement longitudinally of-the shafts, a tension frame,a shifter engaging the clutch members on opposite sides of the clutchand providing for lost motion between the shifter and clutch on itsmovement in opposite directions, and yielding connections between theshifter and frame for moving the shifterin'op posite directions,substantially as described.

6. The combination with two rolls on one of which a web is wound fromthe other, of a shaft driving one of said rolls, a shaft driving saidfirst mentioned shaft, a friction clutch connecting said shaftsconsisting of members having a limited movement longitudinally of saidshaft, a shifter engagingsaid clutch at opposite sides, a tension frame,and connections between said tension frame and clutch for moving thelatter in opposite directions, substantially as described.

7. The combination with two rolls on one of which a web is wound fromthe other and reversible to rewind the web on the roll from which it wasunwound, of a shaft driving one of said rolls, a shaft driving saidfirst mentioned shaft, a friction clutch connecting said shaftsconsisting of members having a limited movement longitudinally of saidshaft, a shifter engaging said clutch at opposite sides, a tensionframe, and connections between said tension frame and clutch for movingthelatter in opposite directions, substantially as described.

8. The combination with let-off and take-up rolls B, O, of a tensionframe, shafts E, E driving said rolls B, C respectively, slidingfriction clutch members I), b and stops 1, 2 on said shaftsrespectively, shifter 32 having forks c, c engaging the respectiveclutch members, and connections between said shifter and tension framefor moving the shifter in opposite directions, substantially asdescribed.

9. The combination with let-off and takeup rolls B, O, of verticaltension frame I carrying breast roll H, shafts E, E driving said rollsB, (J-respectively, sliding friction clutch members 12,19 and stops 1, 2on said shafts respectively, shifter 32 having forks c, 0 engaging therespective clutch members and connections between said shifter andtension frame for moving the shifter in opposite directions,substantially as described.

10. The combination with let-0E and takeup rolls B, C, of a tensionframe, shafts E, E driving said rolls B, C respectively, slidingfriction clutch members I), b, and stops 1, 2 on said shaftsrespectively, shifter 32 having forks o c engaging the respective clutchmembers, and a yielding connection between said shifter and tensionframe for moving the shifter in opposite directions, substantially asdescribed.

11. The combination with let ofi and take TKO up rolls B, O, of atension frame, shafts E, E

driving said rolls B, C respectively, sliding friction clutch membersI), Z2, and stops 1, 2 on said shafts respectively, shifter 32 havingforks c, o engaging the respective clutch mem bers, means for adjustingthe distance between the forks, and a yielding connection between saidshifter and tension frame for moving the shifter in opposite directions,substantially as described.

12. The combination with the let-off and take-up rolls B, O, of shaft Egeared to the roll B, shaft E geared to the roll 0, a friction clutchconnecting said shafts, consisting of sliding clutch members I), b andstops 1, 2 on said shafts respectively, shifter 32 having forks c, (1.engaging the respective clutch members and providing for lost motion onits movement in opposite directions, vertical tension frame I carryingbreast roll H, and

connecting rod 31 between the frame I and shifter, substantially asdescribed.

13. The combination with the driving and driven shafts E, E, of thesliding clutch members b, b and stops 1, 2 on said shafts re witnesses.

CHARLES B. RUMSEY. Witnesses:

EDWARD W. HYATT, ASA DAVIS.

